Wes Anderson Reveals He's Considered Making Horror And Christmas Movies

Wes Anderson, Grand Budapest HotelA familiar (and unfair) knock against Wes Anderson‘s oeuvre is that you can tell the filmmaker’s work from looking at a single frame. His canny eye for detail, obsessive approach to shot composition, his unique approach to drama and comedy, and his distinctly penned characters have been his calling card for better or worse (depending on who you ask). However, don’t think Anderson hasn’t considered changing up the game. In a conversation at the Rome Film Festival with author Donna Tartt, the director revealed he’s considered making horror and Christmas films.

"I have thought of doing a horror movie, and I have thought of doing a Christmas movie," Anderson said. "Horror is an area where if a filmmaker really wants to use all the tricks, the techniques to affect your emotions…. With the kind of movies I do, you’re supposed to say is this part supposed to be funny, or is this part supposed to be sad? Well, you say, I don’t know. I’m not sure. This is the way we wanted it. When you make a horror or a thriller, you say you’re supposed to be scared here. You’re supposed to be relieved here. Here we’re explaining something so you know the next part so you’ll be more scared then. I like the idea of the requirements and the obligations of working in a genre like that. I’ve done some scenes like that, but I’d like to do a scary movie."

"The good thing with a Christmas movie — if you make a great Christmas song or movie or book, as Dickens showed us, you can make a huge fortune, because they come back every year. As long as you have a piece of the action, then it’s a perennial," he added.

Anderson certainly has flirted with the Christmas spirit, with Vince Guaraldi Trio‘s "Christmas Time Is Here" from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" serving as the soundtrack for in the ice cream parlor scene in "The Royal Tenenbaums," however, the director hasn’t really tackled horror. And that likely won’t change with Anderson’s next movie, a stop motion animated tale about dogs. But would you like to see the filmmaker switch gears and try a genre he’s never tackled before? Let us know below. Personally, I think he could potentially make a great Christmas movie. [Filmmaker Magazine]